


Can You See What I've Become?

by phoenixburncold



Category: Mystery Skulls, Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: Angst, Depression, Gen, So here's my take, Swearing, The Future, look i know a bunch of ppl have done this scene but it wasn't...enough for me, the truck scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:53:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27593717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixburncold/pseuds/phoenixburncold
Summary: The truck scene from THE FUTURE with a huge, heavy dose of depression.
Kudos: 77





	1. Arthur

**Author's Note:**

> I had to get this out, like this. It doesn't fit with the timing of the video since there's no way all of this gets stuffed into ten seconds without some kind of time warp. But, if you like this, I am currently working on a long, detailed version following Lewis's whole arc with a bunch of my own imaginings, so check back in a few weeks for that if you want. My hyperfixation will probably keep me going for another month or so at least.

Lewis snatches the locket from Arthur's light grip, glowering at Arthur as he scrambles backward toward the pile of boxes he had crawled out of. Lewis turns away and Arthur watches his broad back move a single step away before stopping short. There's a few beats before he watches Lewis fall to his knees, back still towards Arthur.

 _Oh gods, oh shit._ Arthur’s head pounds and it’s not just because of the lack of sleep. There was so much information cramming into his head in such a short amount of time, he feels like it is going to crack open. There’s a quiet part of him that very much wishes it would, so he could find some relief. Lewis is found, albeit dead. He remembers seeing his uncle’s shop, Arthur is pretty sure the Van crashed into the side of it. The Van can get fixed, Lewis and Vivi can go around investigating again, Mystery among them. It’d be fine. It’s not like they needed him anyway.

Lewis makes a noise. Arthur blinks, knowing that sound. _Is he **crying?**_

Up until this point, Lewis had been emitting so much heat, but now that he has stopped, Arthur realizes just how much hotter it had been.

It’s a shaky hand but it does land lightly on Lewis’s shoulder. Under his hand, Arthur can feel Lewis start in surprise and then stiffen. Arthur was enough to the side that he can see the black streaming from the large eye sockets. Lewis is still much warmer than any normal human. Arthur forces himself to keep his hand there.

“Lewis.” Arthur manages it without his voice shaking too much.

Lewis shakes, the blackness thickening for a few beats. Then, in a movement too fast for Arthur to register, Lewis clutches the heart in one hand, turns and grabs Arthur’s throat, forcing him to the floor of the truck. The black fluid is still streaming from his eyes but Lewis glares at Arthur. _“Why’d you do it?”_ Lewis growls. 

Arthur gasps, clutching at the massive hand over his windpipe, unable to breathe much less answer. Lewis growls and shifts his hand, pressing hard against Arthur’s chest. Arthur struggles to fill his lungs between coughs, hindered by the hand but at least he can breathe again.

“Do what?” Arthur rasps.

 _“Do what?!”_ Lewis squeezes and Arthur’s ribcage aches with the pressure. The fluid turns into purple flames as his entire skull becomes wreathed in it. _“Do what?! Kill me of course! WHY?”_

“Kill?” Arthur feels like he’s falling again.

Lewis squeezes again and Arthur’s vision starts to black around the edges. _“You. Pushed. Me. Off. That. Cliff.”_

Arthur blinks, wanting the blackness to take him. It can’t be true. Can a spectre lie? His shoulder aches. 

The nightmares. He’s had nightmares for months. Ever since Lewis disappeared. Nightmares of a green mist and a wolf with long thick tails tearing his arm off. Nightmares of an eye in his now missing palm, a voice that cracked with age and malice that spoke inside his head. And there’s the feeling of discomfort and unfounded fear he got whenever it was just him and Mystery. And Vivi, suddenly having no idea who Lewis ever was. And his own missing memories. 

And Lewis. 

Lewis. Kind-hearted, gentle giant Lewis with three little sisters and happy adoptive parents at home. Lewis who always made sure Galahad and Mystery were well fed and had plenty of bathroom breaks and helped Arthur clean out Galahad’s cage. Lewis who would openly cry at sad movies, TV shows, hell even commercials with Arthur. Lewis who would feed the strays at every pitstop and always had a gentle smile and tender touch. Lewis who would hear Arthur break down in bathroom stalls, the back of the van, the motel room, and ask if he was okay and talk him through it; or just sit next to him and let Arthur get it all out when Arthur couldn’t manage to speak. Lewis.

Angry enough become a spectre, tethered to the small heart locket he always carried around, the locket Vivi bought him his first birthday they spent together, instead of his death site.

“Do it,” Arthur manages as the pressure in his ribcage becomes unbearable, closing his eyes. “I deserve it. Do it Lewis. Be free.”

The pressure disappears. Arthur unwillingly takes a breath and then a second before he opens his eyes. Lewis sits back on his heels, clutching the now open heart again. The black fluid is pouring from Lewis’s eyes again. Arthur forces himself to sit up, and because he’s not sure he can stand yet, crawls toward Lewis to sit next to him. The black fluid thickens before going clear and then finally stops.

_“I missed you guys,”_ Lewis says finally.

“I missed you, too,” Arthur manages. He rubs his shoulder where the limb is attached. It aches even worse this close to Lewis.

“You look like shit,” Lewis declares, looking him up and down.

“I feel like shit,” admits Arthur with a heavy sigh. “Vivi’s been forcing me to eat. I sleep a few hours a week. Been looking for you.”

_“You really didn’t know?”_

“I lost my memory during it, the doctors called it shock-induced memory loss. I remember going into the cave, splitting up with you. There was some mist, it smelled like rot. You were on the edge of the cliff. Next thing I know, I wake up in a hospital with a couple of pints of someone else’s blood pumping into me from an IV, my arm bit off, and Vivi crying. She doesn’t remember you at all Lewis. I’ll say your name and she just gives this blank look. I think…whatever happened to her happened to me too, but, less severe. I have nightmares when I sleep which is why I’ve almost stopped.”

Lewis looks thoughtful while Arthur talks.

Then the world explodes.

-___-

Arthur groans, torn out of the soft blackness into the sharp world again. He’s under truck rubble. His uncle is lying a few feet away face first in the dirt. “Uncle Lance?” Arthur manages from under steel beams, a large tire pined next to him taking most of the weight. Arthur wiggles from out of the rubble, suddenly thankful for those missed meals.

Adrenaline races through him, allowing him to pick up Lance in one attempt. Lewis looks dazed at the end of the truck but both Lewis and Arthur peer out. All Arthur sees are vines. _Holy FUCK._


	2. Lewis

Lewis snatches his anchor from Arthur's hands, ignoring his gasp and the scrambling noises he makes. Lewis turns fully away from Arthur, embarrassed and irritated he didn’t just grab it first. He takes a step away before realizing the image has changed. There is Vivi still, being held by him. But now Mystery is in her other arm giving his best fanged smile, and Arthur is making his goofy peace signs. He knows this picture. It is somewhere in the Van right now probably. Vivi took this a few weeks before they went into that damned cave.

A little happy family.

His home away from home.

His heart is still beating in his hands but that’s not why the image is suddenly blurry. He doesn’t notice until a few seconds that something is coming out of his eyes, streaking down his skull.

Lewis drops to his knees, rubbing the picture with a thumb. 

He doesn’t hear Arthur move towards him, so it’s a surprise when he feels a bare hand on his shoulder moments later.

“Lewis,” Arthur says, voice shaking slightly.

Lewis can’t do this. It _hurts_. The black continues to pour out his eyes. He’s still angry. Gripping the heart in one hand and closing it in the same motion, he whips around, gripping Arthur’s throat and forcing him to the truck’s floor, leaning over his prone body.

_“Why’d you do it?”_ he growls.

Arthur takes short, small breaths, his fingers gripping helplessly Lewis’s hand. With a growl, Lewis lifts it from Arthur’s throat to press it against Arthur’s chest. _He is so small_ , Lewis registers even amongst his anger. If he wanted to, Lewis could grab Arthur’s whole ribcage and break it like an egg. Probably with just as much effort too. Arthur coughs and his breaths are still short but he rasps, “Do what?”

_“Do what!?”_ Lewis squeezes, almost tempted to try out his theory regarding Arthur’s chest, his anger spilling out into flames that engulf him, burning away whatever compassion he had. _“Do what!? Kill me of course! WHY?”_

Arthur’s face goes white and he looks dizzy. “Kill?” he breathes.

Lewis tightens his grip a little more with each word. _“You. Pushed. Me. Off. That. Cliff.”_ Arthur blinks at Lewis, his eyes still as he stares into Lewis’s. There’s shock there, his face and eyes telling more than his words ever could. Lewis has seen Arthur process difficult information before. He has a quick mind when he’s not scared out of his wits. Lewis can see him processing it all before his face goes slack.

“Do it,” Arthur gasps, closing his eyes. “I deserve it. Do it Lewis. Be free.”

It’s the tone of his voice, the resignation with a heavy dose of depression, and the last sentence that breaks Lewis. He falls back, sitting on his heels. Arthur is so willing to die. _‘Be free.’ But would I be free? Something happened to him. That has to be why he didn’t know._ Lewis opens the heart again, looking at the picture. He’s crying again, he can tell. Arthur lies there for a moment before pulling himself into a sitting position and then crawls to Lewis’s side, sitting heavily there. Lewis weeps, and then, miraculously feels better than he has since he woke up in that cave.

_“I missed you guys,”_ Lewis finally says.

“I missed you, too,” Arthur declares, voice shaking in exhustion. He rubs his shoulder with the mechanical arm.

Lewis gives Arthur a good long look. The bags under his eyes speak of little or poor sleep. He is also far skinner than Lewis remembers him being. And that arm is really mechanical.

_“You look like shit,”_ Lewis announces.

“I feel like shit,” admits Arthur with a heavy sigh. “Vivi’s been forcing me to eat. I sleep a few hours a week. Been looking for you.”

Lewis is surprised again. _“You really didn’t know?”_

“I lost my memory, the doctors called is shock-induced memory loss. I remember going into the cave, splitting up with you. There was some mist, it smelled like rot. You were on the edge of the cliff. Next thing I know, I wake up in a hospital with a couple of pints of someone else’s blood pumping into me from an IV, my arm bit off, and Vivi crying.” Arthur pauses a moment, taking a deep breath before plowing forward. “She doesn’t remember you at all Lewis. I’ll say your name and she just gives this blank look. I think…whatever happened to her happened to me too, but, less severe. I have nightmares when I sleep which is why I’ve almost stopped.”

Lewis looks thoughtful, wondering if any of that had something to do with him. He vaguely remembers seeing Vivi in the last seconds before…well before. He remembers the pain of the spikes and right before that thinking, _Oh gods, any god that’s willing to listen, please don’t let her remember me –_ he was going to finish the thought with _like this_ but he had met the spikes before he could.

Lewis isn’t sure what to say next.

Then the world explodes. Lewis instinctively reaches for Arthur, the need to protect him creating a bubble around Arthur.

It doesn’t hurt, exploding, but it does stun him being unprotected. He hears Arthur call for his uncle. _Oh right._ Lewis had forgotten about him.

Lewis watches Arthur wiggle from under a pile of rubble and scoop up his uncle in one go before moving past Lewis to peer out the back of the wrecked truck. Lewis does the same.

_That’s a lot of vines._


End file.
